


two kinds of soup

by bestliars



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mentorship, Minnesota Wild, Pre-Slash, Soup, mumps
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-09
Updated: 2014-12-09
Packaged: 2018-02-28 18:06:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2741990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bestliars/pseuds/bestliars
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jonas has the mumps, and Ryan is worried that he won’t get enough to eat while the team is on the road.</p>
            </blockquote>





	two kinds of soup

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mardia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mardia/gifts).



> Mardia asked for this while drunk. This is not really my fault? (Or at least she gave me an excuse to write something I had been resisting. It’s only kind of my fault.)
> 
> Thanks to Stellarer for giving me story notes/putting up with me/etc, and to AshesandGhostFF for looking at spag. Anything wrong is my own fault.

Ryan gets up early the day before they leave for Philadelphia. He leaves Zach in their warm bed, going downstairs to feed the dogs and start the coffee. He gets dressed quietly — there’s still half an hour until the alarm, and Zach could use the rest. Ryan has other things to do.

He puts his first cup of coffee into a travel mug, leaves a note on the counter, and pulls his boots on. 

Zach’s up when he gets home, standing barefoot at the kitchen island, starring blearily at a cup of coffee.

He blinks at Ryan.

“You got groceries,” Zach says. 

“Good work stating the obvious,” Ryan chirps halfheartedly. Zach’s awfully cute when he’s half asleep — and the rest of the time too, really.

“Why did you get groceries? We’re about to go out of town.”

“I’m going to make Brods soup,” Ryan says. “He’s still pretty sick, and I worry about whether he’s eating enough.”

“So you’re making him soup?” Zach asks.

Ryan nods. This is a good plan. He’s being a good mentor, and a good teammate. They’re going on the road, and Brods will be on his own, with no one around to look after him. Jonas seems miserable, and Ryan wants to help however he can. Really, this isn’t very much at all.

“What kind of soup are you making?” Zach asks. 

“Well, chicken noodle is a classic. And there’s a recipe with leeks that I wanted to try. You should think about which you want for lunch, I’ll put a bowl aside before I put it in tupperware.” He starts unpacking the groceries onto the counter. 

“You’re just making two kinds of soup, because you feel bad that Brods is sick and getting left home alone?” Zach asks.

Ryan nods.

“Okaaay. I guess that’s a healthy distraction?”

Ryan doesn’t know what Zach’s implying. He’s making soup because he doesn’t think Jonas is eating enough. He doesn’t have any other motivations. “If he’s healthy enough to meet the team in Florida it should freeze pretty well,” Ryan says. He isn’t convinced Jonas can feed himself even when he isn’t ill. 

“Does Brods even like leeks?”

“He’ll eat anything,” Ryan says.

Zach laughs, but it’s true. Zach stands there for a minute longer, pressing himself against Ryan’s back, with his hands on Ryan’s hip. It’s nice has to get started on his cooking.

Before Zach lets himself gets shrugged off he kisses Ryan’s neck, and says, “I like how you look after Brods. It’s cute.” 

Ryan turns to smile at him. He likes knowing this has Zach’s approval. Zach’s the most important person in his life, but figuring out how to live together everyday is an ongoing process. They’ve been together for a long time without being exclusive, and it has always been fine. Living together does change that, but not in all the ways they thought it would. Being in love doesn’t mean you stop needing other people. 

Whatever the thing with him and Jonas might turn into, it’s nothing so far, only potential. That isn’t what cooking for Jonas is about at all though. Ryan isn’t looking for anything else, he’s just trying to help. Still, it’s nice to know that whatever it might turn into someday won’t rattle what he and Zach have at home. They’re solid, no matter what else happens.

They have a home together, with dogs, and a big kitchen that doesn’t get used nearly enough. He has to wash dust out of the big pots before he can start. He gets the noodles going, then starts cutting up leeks. As he works through the recipes there are lots of things to chop up: onions, carrots, garlic, and celery. The dogs come to beg when he starts with the chicken, and he can’t say no to their big eyes. They’re almost as bad as Zach, who keeps on coming in to peer over his shoulder and ask for a taste. 

It isn’t fast work, but Ryan enjoys it. He gets the dishes going while the soups simmer, then starts cleaning out the fridge, preparing for their road trip. 

He texts Jonas before he leaves, giving the him a heads up, and making sure he’s awake to answer the door. Jonas texts him back, says he isn’t going anywhere, obviously. Poor kid. Ryan hopes he isn’t starting to feel too sorry for himself.

He packs the soup up in sturdy containers, and puts them in a bag with a couple of other things he picked up. He shouts to Zach that he’ll be back in a while, and heads out to the car. He gets on the highway, heading downtown. It isn’t too hard to find parking on the street. He feeds the meter and heads inside.

Jonas opens the door, looking tired. The swelling has mostly gone down, but he still looks sick and miserable. It’s good to see him anyway.

“I brought over some food,” Ryan says. “There’s soup, and some bread, and part of a gallon of milk that’d go bad if we left it in the fridge.”

“Thanks,” Jonas says, still looking sleepy. His hair is a mess, and he’s wearing a too big t-shirt that’s hanging off his shoulders, and what might be leggings. Ryan didn’t let himself look that closely, just noticing the fabric clinging before looking up. 

“I shouldn’t go in, cause I guess you could still be contagious, but it’s good to see you.” Ryan can’t tell if Jonas really does look skinnier than usual, or if that’s just seeing what he thinks he should see. He knows that Jonas has been having a hard time making himself eat; hopefully this will help some.

“Yeah, it’s good,” Jonas says. “Getting a little bit lonely, not seeing anyone.”

“We all miss you,” Ryan says. He feels confident speaking for the whole team on this.

Jonas is basically staring at him, with tired blue eyes. Ryan should look away, but can’t.

He should be getting home now. He has to finish packing. He should let Jonas get back to whatever it is he had been doing. Jonas should be resting, not up talking to him. 

“How was practice?” Jonas asks.

Ryan guesses he can stick around for a while longer. They stand in the hallway for probably ten minutes, talking about nothing important. It seems obvious that Jonas is missing having someone to talk to. He tells Ryan that he’s been Skyping Klefbom some, but that isn’t the same as talking to someone who’s actually there. 

Ryan holds back for what feels like an awfully long time before going inside. It’s good to take precautions, but there’s a fair chance he’s been exposed already. He might as well go in and help put away the food he brought.

Ryan unpacks his bag while Jonas leans against the counter. There’s the soup, and milk, and ginger ale, and the shortbread cookies he remembered Jonas liked when he saw them in the grocery store. 

Jonas’s fridge is just as sad as Ryan thought it would be. There are a few bottles of beer in the back, mostly hidden behind a bunch of gatorade. That’s good, Jonas can’t get dehydrated. There are a few take-out boxes on the higher shelves, and a mostly full thing of ketchup in the door. Ryan doubts he was much better at twenty-one, but it’s clear Jonas needs some help. 

“This is pathetic,” Ryan says as he rearranges things to make room for the milk. 

“There’s soup in the freezer,” Jonas says.

Ryan opens the freezer, and there are indeed a half dozen things of decent looking grocery store soup, along with a twix bar, an ice cube tray, and some cold packs.

“You should be eating fruit,” Ryan says sadly. “I should have brought you juice.”

“I have gatorade,” Jonas says.

Ryan shakes his head. That’s probably fine, but doesn’t seem good enough. 

He looks around the small kitchen, zeroing in on stack of dishes in the sink. Since he’s here he might as well clean up. He loads the dishwasher, and wipes down the counters. They keep talking, but mostly Jonas is watching him. Ryan doesn’t mind. Zach says he’s too picky about keeping things neat, but it’s nice of him to tidy things up for Jonas. He washes his hands when he’s done, not wanting to take any germs with him.

It isn’t a big kitchen, and Jonas has kept on coming close, but then stepping away, knowing he should hold back since could still be contagious. 

Ryan’s tired of this. It’s ridiculous. 

He opens his arms, says “Hey, Brods, come here.”

Jonas clearly needs a hug. Being sick is bad enough, but the isolation can only be making it worse. He’s used to being around the team all the time — he must be touch starved, stuck on his own. 

Jonas leans into him, and Ryan holds on. Usually when they hug there are hockey pads involved, but this is nice too. Jonas is really warm. He _feels_ skinnier, but Ryan still isn’t sure if that’s in his head.

This is good though. It doesn’t fix anything, but it’s good. Jonas still looks pretty horrible. Ryan’s brought him something to eat, but that isn’t enough, he wants to haul Jonas to bed at tuck him in, but that might get taken the wrong way.

He pushes Jonas’s hair out of his eyes. Jonas is just his height, maybe half an inch taller if he wasn’t slouching.

Ryan doesn’t want to leave him behind. Ryan wants to look after him. Or really, he wishes that Jonas felt good enough that he was coming along. There’s a chance he could starts feeling a lot better and join the team in Tampa. Looking at him today Ryan thinks that seems pretty unlikely. Ryan wishes he could make Jonas healthy.

Jonas leans closer, resting his head against Ryan’s shoulder. It’s interesting to find out how they fit together.

He can’t fix anything. All he can do is show that he cares by bringing over what is possibly too much soup. It’s alright though, Jonas will wind up eating it all eventually. 

It would be so easy to lean in and kiss Jonas. 

He should go now. There are still things to do at home before they hit the road. It’s almost tempting to just stay here instead, looking after Jonas. Then Jonas will be looked after, and he won’t have to deal with anything else.

He doesn’t wish he was sick, but he isn’t looking forward to this trip. It’s only three games, but the two in Florida will have guest tagging along. It’s the father’s and mentor’s trip — an addition they made out of sympathy to his situation, which he appreciates, but still. He knows his dad had been looking forward to this trip. He’ll still have a good time, hanging out with his brother and Zach. Some of the team stuff might be rough, but they’ll have a nice time.

He gives Jonas one last squeeze, then lets go. Jonas is slow to move way. Ryan doesn’t especially mind. He pats Jonas on the side of the face, and tries to smile reassuringly. Jonas tries to smile back, but mostly fails.

He doesn’t have anything else to say. They’ve been saying nothing for a while already.

“Get well soon, yeah?” Ryan says.

Jonas nods.

“Good, we can’t wait to have you back out there.” That’s the truth. The team’s missing him bigtime, and that’s important enough that it isn’t worth thinking about how Ryan might be missing Jonas personally.

“You too,” Jonas says. “Take care of yourself?”

“Ok, I will,” Ryan promises with a smile. He moves fast, taking a step in to kiss Jonas on the cheek, then quickly turns around to start walking towards the door. He really does have to go now. He goes out to his cold car, and starts driving home.

**Author's Note:**

> AND THEN RYAN SUTER GOT THE MUMPS.


End file.
